Courage Is Being Afraid
by MadDogLucario96
Summary: Takes place during Determination. Kari tries to help Tai get out of his angst-driven mood but he is not so easily persuaded. Will she get through to him? Find out. Rated K for one instance of language.


**Hi guys. Been a while but I finally got some inspiration to write again. Once again, this is in the Tri universe. Can't wait for the dub of Determination to come out. When that may be I am not sure yet. This one shot comes from the clip in Determination (or Confession?) when it's raining and Tai's cleaning his soccer cleats in his room. I also wanted to do some sibling bonding between him and Kari so it fit perfectly. Hope you all enjoy it.**

 **Don't own Digimon or anything associated with it.**

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The dark skies and falling rain seemed to reflect Tai's mood as he cleaned his soccer cleats, removing any dirt or mud from them absentmindedly. All of the recent events were starting to get to him: infected Digimon, both worlds being in trouble, and his and Matt's friendship was on the rocks. Not to say that things were great before all of this happened but it seemed to make things worse actually. Hearing the rain go rata-tat-tat on his window did not help calm his mood.

' _If I'm not the leader of our group anymore, then who the hell am I?'_ He had thought to himself every day for the past two years. It was scary because that was always what he knew himself as and then he didn't have that anymore. He was just Tai Kamiya, regular human being.

Kari sat on the chair at her brother's desk, looking on with a sympathetic eye as he continued cleaning his shoes. She was worried about him. He had been stuck in a rut for a while now and it only seemed to get worse when the Digimon came back into their lives. What also concerned her was the outright hostility between him and Matt. It seemed like every time they were in a place together, they were on the verge of a fight or verbal dispute and it was affecting the team. She wanted to know what was wrong and try to help him.

"Tai?" She spoke up. "You ok?"

He huffed and continued scrubbing away. He wasn't in the mood for talking at the moment. He just wanted to be left alone in peace.

"You wanna talk?"

"Talking's for wimps," he shook his head. "Don't waste your breath, kiddo."

Sighing in frustration at her brother's stubbornness, Kari sat down on the floor across from him. Tai finally looked up from his cleats and met her gaze, giving her a death glare. He loved his sister but she could learn to keep her nose out of his business once in a while.

"Something's wrong with you," she observed. "I want to help. I hate seeing you like this."

"It's none of your business, Kari," he turned away, not wanting to make eye contact with his sister. "Why bother?" He looked out the window into the wet darkness, the Rainbow Bridge barely visible. Finding a sliver of peace from the sight, he sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder what's happening to us," he said. "I think this whole infected Digimon thing is destroying the group as a whole. We don't have the friendship we once had, and it doesn't look like it'll ever be that way again."

Kari moved towards him until she sat beside him. She too had this on her mind for a while now but didn't want to worry about it.

"Have you ever considered we may be on the wrong side?" She asked.

Tai raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked, wondering where she was getting.

"What if the Digital World as we knew it no longer exists?" Kari continued. "What if we have become the evil we fought to destroy and are no better than the Dark Masters themselves?"

Tai shook his head. "I don't believe that," he denied. "And you're starting to sound like Joe."

Kari bristled initially at being compared to the oldest of their group but she didn't show it. She wanted to play the empathy card but Tai forced her hand.

"Can't you feel it, Tai? You and Matt are driving a wedge between yourselves and it is affecting all of us. The two of you are best friends. Please, talk to him and come to an understanding so we can all fight this together."

Tai huffed an angry breath and pointed a finger threateningly.

"Don't ask me to do that," he growled before elaborating with dripping sarcasm. "Get TK to do it since you always run to him when something happens between me and Matt. Maybe you guys can work out a solution."

He got up off the floor and placed a hand on the window, feeling the coldness of it. Kari got off the floor as well and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a comforting embrace.

"What's wrong, Tai?" She asked.

"Nothing," he replied much softer this time. Tai let an inhale and exhale go through his nose as he watched the drops of rain hit the window.

Kari always was concerned when Tai would be this way. He expects too much of himself sometimes that even when he had every reason to be happy about something, he wasn't. She just wanted him to be happy.

"Don't shut me out. Let me help you."

"I don't need any help, Kari," he denied. "I can handle this just fine."

Sighing in defeat, Kari knew she was not going to get much more out of him. He could be so stubborn sometimes. She wondered where he could have possibly gotten it from.

"I'm going to bed," she declared. "There's no use trying to talk to you when you're like this: feeling sorry for yourself and taking it out on others."

She walked out of the room, leaving Tai to think, and into her own. Changing into some short shorts and her Green Day t-shirt, she was set for bed until she heard the door open. Kari turned to see her brother standing there.

"What?" She asked, coming across as a little annoyed but also curious too as to what he had to say.

Tai took a deep breath before giving his explanation.

"You're right, Kari," he said. "You're right. I should try to make things better with Matt. Just hearing about how it's affecting all of you bothers me."

Kari walked over to her brother and embraced him, wrapping her arms around his back and resting her head against his chest, feeling the beat of his heart. Tai reciprocated the action and placed his chin on the top of his sister's head.

"I just want you to be happy," she murmured. "I don't like it when you're like this."

"I know you don't," he rubbed her back. "But things have been crazy lately and I don't know what to do."

He chuckled slightly. "Imagine that: Tai Kamiya, the brash leader of the Digidestined, the Crest of Courage, unsure of what to do."

Kari looked up at him.

"I don't think that at all," she replied. "I just see a Tai Kamiya who is afraid. You have a big heart, Tai, and you want to do the right thing. But sometimes the right thing isn't always the easiest thing."

The two siblings furthered their embrace as they said good night to each other.

"I love you," she gave him a kiss goodnight on the cheek. Tai kissed her forehead.

"I will never let anything happen to you." He promised, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek.

Kari smiled. "I know," she replied.

And with that, Tai went off to his room while Kari settled in for the night. What happened from this point on would be anyone's guess.

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 **Man. I just realized how angsty I made Tai sound but he just strikes me as angsty in the whole series so far. Thankfully he has started to come out of it with Loss, but that's because he's back in his element: defending the Digital World.**

 **Also, the reason I gave Kari her own room in this one is because you would think that since she's a teenager now, she would get her own room. So I thought they turned Mr. Kamiya's office into a room for Kari. Just to clarify for those of you who were confused by that.**

 **Hope you guys all enjoyed it and let me know in a review. Those really help my writing and I want to make sure I am faithfully portraying everyone the way they should be portrayed. Have a nice day and I'll see you all soon.**


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